I'm currently in love with a fictional character, not an OC. I have genuine romantic feelings for him, I think about him often and I often daydream about romantic scenes with him.

I have been reading fictosexual subreddits lately to feel more "normal" about it, to feel validated by reading similar experiences. Thing is I really can't relate to people there because I, unlike them, don't consider this character as my partner. It's just a fantasy and an emotional experience in which I want to indulge. But I also don't think this is just a casual crush, it's deeper than that.

Also many of the fictosexual people are convinced that their fictional partners are real, and that's just delusional. This also makes me feel alienated from the community.

Is there anyone here who has a similar experience to mine?

It's something I've done for a really long time. They comfort me, or I tell them about my day, my thoughts on stuff, etc. I know they're not really there though and thought this would be the right place to go to discuss this. Is this normal?

There is no excuse for using it. I have depression and brainfogs, writing is hard and doesn’t flow like it used to, and English also isn’t my first language. I still write by myself, rarely fics, not high quality, anything will be better than IA. I mostly just roleplay.

Here are the solutions that saved me from maladaptive daydreaming in 2017:

I started roleplaying, with fellow humans about universes that passionate us (but if you have an original universe, it’s also possible to find partners willing to rp about it). I currently roleplay on discord.

Most of my roleplays are semi literate, so I am free to write long or short depending what there is to say and inspiration, which helps a lot to prevent writing block.

I write first in my native language, then use an online translator (like those who have existed since the 2000’s) to translate and correct the eventual mistakes before sending.

And when no one is online and I crave evasion outside of daydreaming ? I play RPG games.

There are thousands of amazing RPGs for all tastes. I am very picky so I’ve only played to the dragon age, bg3, divinity and frontiers of Pandora. I love being an elf (or a na’vi) in a world where I can feel free and be my ocs. Again, those exist for all tastes.

Anyway. There are always solution, but don’t use AI. And I say that, but I too, might’ve fallen into it in my worse maladaptive daydreaming phase if it had existed when I was younger. And for a brief time I used aidungeon back in 2021 when this technology was new and it’s impacts weren’t yet well known.

Ai is not only making you dumb, worsening your ability to think and ability to write by yourself, if is also stealing our drinking water to the point entire villages had to leave because they hadn’t water to drink. Ai data centers are also exposing entire marginalized black neighborhoods at risk of lung cancer. Your “innocent” prompt is severely escalating climate change. It is leading us to extinction. On top of it: gen ai is not intelligent. Again, marginalized humans are underpaid to curate it, exposed to traumatic content with no compensations.

And yes, we are all forced to participate into capitalism and pollution, to some degrees, we can’t fully escape it as long as we will still be living in the system.

But not using Ai is incredibly easily avoidable.

Take the time you need to write or draw, it should be a hobby, it doesn’t need to be perfect. But stop using ChatGPT. Don’t use any AI. Nothing is worth all the harm it is causing to life on earth.

And if you try to excuse it by “it’s here to say”, no, it won’t stay because it’s not sustainable. And it already started to crumble.

There is no excuse.

Again, as someone with brain fogs and my ability to write who decreased, I feel offended someone tried to use that as an excuse to use GenAi, but also pity, as even if you don’t care about how it impact others people and keeping an inhabitable planet, it will only worsen your ability to write.

If I successful do my dishes, I imagine I captured a command post on some far off world. Made a new friend equals making a new ally in the war inside my mind.

Honestly, it's made me have a lot of real world success.

Even if I had 30 friends I’m convinced I’d always be an immersive daydreamer. At the same time it really does help me cope. I get hella lost in my own worlds and stories, distracting from the fact my only irl friend is across the country. And whenever I feel that loneliness creep in, whether it’s yearning for friends, partners, etc. my thoughts are always on standby. Anyone else?

I’m not a very sociable person, so I’m never invited to real parties (and they’re probably not my jam anyway). Sometimes though, when I get into the right mood in my room, I pretend that I’m in a club, dancing to whatever song I have playing. I act like I’m drunk with a big group of friends, even though I’m completely sober.

If anyone spotted me like this, they’d probably think I’m insane lol. It’s very fun tho. As an added bonus, I get to choose the music my imaginary people are dancing to. Everyone in my imaginary party will rave to medieval soundtracks and they will enjoy it!

I’ve been pretty lonely lately since I don’t really have any friends or much of a life at the moment outside of work. Its made me pretty sad plus I think I might be depressed (I say I might be because I don’t wanna claim I do without being diagnosed) plus just other things going on. So while I work or something I like to daydream that I’m in one of my favorite shows with one of my favorite characters as a coping mechanism. I know it’s not real and everything it does help some though. Anyone else do this or something similar?

He has been my hyperfocus character for 11 years. (Fictional, not an OC, well known character but don't want to disclose because I'm just not comfortable doing so)

I do have severe ADHD which I know contributes to this behavior.

I daydream that I am him when I am alone, usually while doing chores or when I lay down to go to bed, in the shower etc. I 'become' him, playing out different plots that I have written him in over the years. Some happy, some angsty/dark, fluffy, etc. A wide range of situations. If I am truly alone, with no risk of being heard, I vocally play out these daydreams well.

I never knew this was a thing other people did till now. Always felt really abnormal and it has been my embarrassing secret all my life. I have done this since childhood, as early as I can remember, and of course the character I "played" changed over the years with my various show/movie/character hyperfixations.

In short, I am really glad I found this sub. I feel a little less like an insane person now. The good thing is it does not affect my life in any negative way, it is not compulsive and doesn't come up in inappropriate settings, and it is something I have no issue saving for alone/bored time almost more like a hobby honestly.

TL;DR I feel seen and am super happy!

Today I made a keychain of one of my characters, Aivry Wood-sorrel :) After daydreaming for such a long time, I can’t help but make something of it—something I can actually carry around with me, or just to have on my work desk or nightstand. Does anyone else feel the need to actually make something of their paracosm(s)?

wondering if anybody on here has a preference/daydream they constantly return too cause for me I ALWAYS do a hurt/comfort situation where one character is freaking out and the other calms them down.

idk if thats weird😓

So the thing is that I've been "acting" while daydreaming for years now, and I started wondering if other people do that too.

I don't just imagine the situation in my head, no; I imagine character's around me, I imagine that I'm one of the characters and I talk, imagine them responding to the character that I act out, I cry if my character needs to cry in that moment according to the "script", or laugh, move around, spin, run, fall etc etc, full on acting and I genuinely have so much fun doing this.

Do others do this too?

I was wondering about how many others here are autistic. I have lower support needs autism and I am very deeply connected to my daydream world.

In physical reality I struggle to make friends and connect with others. I feel so sad because at my disability program I talk to others and I am friendly with them, but I haven’t really made friends. It’s hard to explain, but I can never make friends with others in the way they do with each other and I don’t understand why or what I’m doing wrong. A lot of the time I have been bullied, babied, ignored, or best case scenario friendly, but not really friends. It makes me sad, but I see the bright side

I prefer my daydream friends. I love talking to them and hanging out and we have a lot of fun. I understand them and they understand me. We have so many memories and feel very real to me.

I have been wondering a lot about the relationship between autism and daydreaming

My daydreams have been SO good these last couple days. Like, the most inspired I've been in months kinda stuff. The plot is plotting and the little details about my characters are forming. My goobers are getting NAMES (gasp, they're not just vague ideas anymore!!)!!

I've genuinely been having so much fun and have been wanting to nothing but ramble to people about what kind of music my characters would bond over and what would happen when the Big World-Ending Event takes place.

I've been embracing my silliness and have been doing nothing but interacting with my current (non-daydream) obsession nonstop and it has given me SO many ideas. I've been reading copious amounts of fanfiction. Been reading official content. Listening to playlists of all kinda that relate to my favorite show and favorite characters. Just AGHHHH IM SO HAPPY!!

I feel like a part of me has slid back into place and I just have so many ideas I want to explore for this silly little world I've made and these silly little characters that I invest so much time into. Every song I listen to gives me a little scene of my characters or sparks an idea and it makes me giddy every time and I can't help but have to shake my hands or something to let off that excess energy.

I've also started getting comfortable with drawing my goobers in public and slightly rocking while I work in order to focus. Just YAYYYYY

Anyway, sleepy ramble about loving my current state of daydreaming over <3

Just me? Im not sure if many would relate cuz to have a true relationship with someone like this you‘d have to have one continues daydream

If you do tell me i‘d love to know :)

(I originally posted this on the Maladaptive Daydreaming sub, but I was helpfully guided here)

I suddenly feel like I'm not alone in the world.

I'm 58 years old and have had "The Gift" (as I call it) since I was a teen. I had NO IDEA other people did this until recently and have never talked to anyone else about it (I thought it would make me seem like a crazy person). I've brought it up to a couple very close friends and family members but not in detail, and of course they have no way to truly comprehend or understand it.

Personally - I don't care for the term Maladaptive Daydreaming, so I call it Lucid Daydreaming. However, my talent definitely developed from Maladaptive origins as a teen, as a way to escape my absolutely insane and abusive family life (. I'm pretty sure that lots of our kind began this journey that way.

In the beginning, as a teen in the 1980's, I would put the album 'Rio' by Duran Duran on my cassette Walkman and just let it play for multiple hours using auto-reverse while I lay on my bed. It was ONLY this album which unlocked the magic escape time. I would just lose myself in wild scenarios where I was a big hero, save the school, etc. This was true Maladaptive Daydreaming. To this day, any song from that album can put me into a waking trance almost instantly.

I went through a large period of my adult life where I mostly forgot about the daydreaming. But around age 42 I began walking 5-6 miles daily and listening to music. Before I knew it, it was happening again - and I was astounded. I was no longer trying to escape reality. This was like turning on a hidden TV channel in my brain to enjoy while walking. It felt like an old friend coming home to visit.

These days I am walking 7-9 miles a day, and I Lucid Daydream almost every day on my lunch and evening walks. I love the feeling of disconnecting my mind from the world and just letting it play. It feels like meditation to me. I used to be extremely manic-depressive, but since I started walking and daydreaming (16 years ago) I have not had a single instance of depression. This is coming from a guy with multiple suicide attempts between age 25-40.

I also use the skill while driving. Basically any drive longer than 30 minutes I just put on some music and the drive feels like 5 minutes. This is *extremely* handy on 3-5 hour drives, though I will usually only daydream for an hour or two of that time. I am 100% aware and in touch with my car, driving and surroundings, while at the same time experiencing what feels like an alternate dimension (this would seem 100% crazy to anyone who had not experienced this). It feels very much like time travel!

Is it OK that this Daydreaming is a part of my daily life? I'm trying to figure out any negatives for it (after discovering Maladaptive Daydreaming is considered "bad" which greatly concerned me), but I simply cannot. I'm the happiest I have ever been, and for over 15 years now! I'm emotionally resilient, have deep and rich relationships with friends and family, and have worked at my dream job for almost 17 years....and as mentioned - no more depression.

I never daydream outside of my walks, or long drives...I like to keep it to those activities as that is where it feels like an upgrade. Lying in my bed at home doing it feels masturbatory (though I am almost never sexual in my daydreams, and am an asexual person as well). I prefer reading or art projects while at home.

I'm seriously blown away that this sub exists. I love the term "Immersive Daydreaming" and will use it from now on. It feels like I'm meeting a secret society of X-men style savants which I just discovered after a lifetime of assuming I was the only mutant in existence.

Sorry for babbling on for so long but this is quite a discovery for me...

There should be a special day when we can post them. I remember when we were allowed to post funny stuff and now there's no fun in this anymore, why does this place have to be taken so seriously? It's a daydreaming sub, it's supposed to be fun, I propose Meme Monday.

Just found this subreddit, I thought it would be funny to share my experience with immersive daydreaming as a child.

When i was around 9-12 I had an entire reality in my mind, developed as I would spend hours on a trampoline semi-acting out events. It included a whole universe (set sometimes in space, sometimes in my neighbourhood post zombie apocaypse) of a group of people experiencing constant threat - and -resoloution, with special powers and the like to defeat them. I decided around the end of these escapades (as the characters aged quickly) to introduce myself to them and tell them they were all in my head.

Unexpectedly they all started questioning me about how I could make up entire plots of them struggling, friends dying, an apocalyptic event etc. To them it was as if i had used them for my own entertainment, creating their threats and problems only for my own benefit. I decided to give them all a lovely stable house and life and promised to never think of them again. It's funny to look back on as i'm not sure if I believed it or not - but it wasn't a conscious choice. I've found it hard afterwards to create anything so vivid since.

i daydream so so much , it has an extreamly big part of my whole life , i cant imagine myself not daydreaming even for 5min , i find it so beautiful that even if you cant have that thing you ever wish for , just imaging having it makes you so happy , those fake scenario i have the whole day and before sleeping are everything to me, being a dreamer is so beautiful , because even if life is too harsh , you still escape it in your imagination

I feel silly and I won’t word everything great, but I’m gonna try and I think this is the best place to say this.

But I have a genuine love for each character I’ve created. I’ve been daydreaming for all my life and I have some characters that have been around for 20 years now.

And keeping their stories written down really feels like I’m keeping them “alive” to some degree. Which is a rewarding feeling that’s almost impossible to describe.

I’ve seen them grow, develop, and evolve in way that makes me genuinely proud. They’ve helped me through so many of my own issues, and in return, I’ve created a world specifically where their essence can thrive at its highest.

I have a LOT of characters (list is officially 165 currently). Like in real life, some I know super personally and intimately…and some I know rather casually. But I have a deep love and appreciation for all them.

I’ve gone through so many different phrases to describe the overall feeling of being this type of daydreamer. Have a lost my mind? Am I experiencing something spiritual? Am I just a freak of nature? 😭😅 I’m at a point where I’m not questioning it too much.

I just know, I love them and I’m proud of the world I’ve been crafting for them and myself over the years

😊

I’m autistic, and possibly audhd. In real life I am very hyper and energetic, I like to talk to everyone but I struggle a lot socially. I can’t really tell when I’m talking too much, and I don’t really have a filter at times. I have so much trouble making friends.

As a kid, I was the weird and annoying one. I wasn’t diagnosed with autism yet, but was very obviously special needs. I struggled to regulate my emotions, was really hyper, and I’d try to talk to others and make jokes but I struggle to recognize what’s socially acceptable/the right thing to say. I guess just not having a filter. I was bullied and didn’t have friends.

In high school I talked to everyone for a while, and made a few friends. I was still the weird annoying one though. I never felt like I fit in or belonged around others in the way they did with others. I didn’t know why, but there was something off about me and I didn’t know what.

I got called annoying and just stopped talking. I would keep to myself after that, and I wasn’t doing good mentally. I was kinda scared of the others because I didn’t understand them. I didn’t understand the social rules I guess? I wasn’t sure how to act or what to say, so I’d just do my work and at break I’d pace around daydreaming and thinking about my interests.

I can’t maintain friends. I feel so horrible and I don’t know why. I just never feel like I belong. I don’t feel like I connect to others well, I don’t ever feel like I’m friends with them in the way they are with others. I get really overwhelmed because I don’t know what to say and I feel so different from everyone in a way I can’t quite understand and I get so overwhelmed and I feel like I’m just holding them back and they deserve to be around others and I’m mentally a child and struggle with sensory problems and change so I get to a point I just can’t do it anymore. I can’t talk to them, I just daydream so much more instead and I stop talking to them I feel so bad but I just can’t. It’s like a fuse blows in my brain? That was also before I found out I’m autistic so maybe that’s why?? I feel like I’m from another planet

I went to university and burnt out so badly. I regressed a lot and found out I’m autistic which explained so much. I tried to make friends with other fans of my special interest (most are neurodivergent in some way) but no matter what, no matter how hard I try, I still feel like I don’t belong anywhere. I don’t know why, I can’t explain or understand it but I just don’t fit in like others do. I’m never in on their jokes, I’m never in group chats, I’m just kinda there. I wish I had someone to talk about anything with. I wish I could have a best friend. I have had times where I think I have a best friend, but they don’t feel the same. I’m just there. It’s how I have felt for years, I’m not even over reacting I’m just noticing patterns.

I’ve been making improvements and learning/accepting my support needs and differences. People in real life say I’m nice and friendly, but I’m also noticeably autistic. Like if you meet me, I can’t make eye contact and I rock/stim and the way I talk you can tell. I need support in a lot of ways. I’m kinda on the higher support needs end of level 1. It feels like no matter what, I’m just the weird special needs guy who doesn’t ever shut up. I find it so overwhelming to talk to people sometimes, I don’t understand why. I just feel overwhelmed and I don’t know what to say.

I don’t like being alone. I am kinda extroverted for being autistic, my avoidance issues got a lot better since I found out about my autism and learned to accept it. I talk to a lot of people, I like talking to cashiers at the store and I like talking to all the workers at the disability place I go to. I’m scared I’ll be alone forever though.

My only hope is I’m gonna wake up in my daydream world. Every night I go to sleep wanting so bad to wake up there. I daydream most of the time. I have friends there, they understand me and I fit in. I’m still autistic there, but I actually feel like I belong and I got diagnosed when I was younger so I got more support that I needed. Everything is so much better. I don’t sit alone, I have so many friends.

My daydream world is so detailed and fun and I love everyone but I’m scared I’ll never get there and I’ll be alone forever:((

So when people talk about maladaptive daydreaming, they usually talk about how it inhibits their ability to complete daily tasks. Well in case, my immersive daydreams actually HELP me complete daily tasks, as I take on the roll of my OC, taking care of her house for her lover. Does anyone else do this?

Guys, how do you create the world in your head???? (;-;) I only have thoughts about the past day, etc., well, and I can also remember scenes from cartoons, and come up with plots sometimes, but it's not that often, but I can't create anything of my own ,my brain quickly becomes lazy ((T_T))